the crime

In this collection of short stories, which includes a play and eight short stories, Naguib Mahfouz monitors the nation''s political, economic, and social concerns, which, as is usual in Mahfouz''s literature, expand to include man''s existential concerns. Some of the collection''s stories are dominated by a detective character, which we do not usually find in Mahfouz''s literature, perhaps because it was influenced by the defeat of 1967 and the causes and consequences that led to it, as we see clearly in the stories "The Crime" and "The Investigation." It also sheds light on the corruption that was extremely widespread at that stage, sometimes with sarcasm and ridicule, as we see in the story "Room No. 12," or by revealing the sudden wealth achieved by some people, as happens in the story "Ahlan."